CUHK Students Receive the Citi-HKCSS Community Intern Program 2021 Awards for Excellence
Our award-winning students from the Citi-HKCSS Community Intern Program celebrates
their success (from left to right): Grace Luk, Michelle Chan, Gigi Siu, and Yuen Tung.
With growing attention on CSR, CUHK has been nurturing social-minded business students through internships and competitions for many years. Notably, CUHK has been fully supporting the Citi-HKCSS Community Intern Program for the last 11 years. This programme provides an opportunity for students to work in local NGOs to tackle business problems throughout the summer break. In 2021, 78 students were selected and placed with 40 NGOs. After completing a three-month program consisting of workshops and an internship, LAM Yuen Tung (IBBA, Year 3), SIU Nga Chi Gigi (IBBA, Year 3), LUK Yu Yan Grace (QFIN, Year 2) and CHAN Yuet Yee Michelle (GBUS, Year 2) were presented the Awards for Excellence for their creativity and wholehearted contribution.
While many students found it worthwhile to work in multinational corporations during the summer, Grace believed participating in the Citi-HKCSS Program is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all students. Yuen Tung concurred, “It is an impactful journey – we often hear how serious homelessness is, but through the workshops, I realized the living conditions of street sleepers are much worse than I thought. It was like a refugee camp, with hundreds of people sleeping inside pavilions in appalling and unpleasant conditions.” For Gigi, she had participated in a workshop organized by Eldpathy. She built a deep understanding of both the physical and mental needs of the elderly through VR activities and wearing a simulation suit. “It was truly a unique and unforgettable experience.”
After attending the workshops, they were asked to choose an NGO they were interested to work in. Michelle decided to work at a farm owned by Ecotour 330. “I want to explore and gain unique experience rather than sitting in an office in front of a computer!” During her 2-month internship, she conducted market research and launched two new product lines using recycled materials inside the farm. “In addition to profit-making, we also considered how we could provide additional job opportunities for people recovering from mental illness.”
Grace chose Health in Action, an organization promoting health equity and humanitarianism, as her first choice. While the NGO has lots of workshops organized for minority and low-income families, she came up with an idea to spread their vision to a broader audience. “I met with several middle-aged security guards around the office, and I thought it would be great to teach them to read nutrition information sheets in the form of workshops.” Eventually, Grace coordinated several workshops in August, which was well-received by the participants.
Yuen Tung (left) and Gigi Siu (right) unleashed their talent in business
to promote their own NGO effectively through social media platforms
Yuen Tung and Gigi had been to Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service and Healthy Hong Kong Limited respectively to promote their own NGO online. For Yuen Tung, she introduced her restaurant to online users. “I had worked with staff members for several days before writing out social media feeds. Although most of the staff were ex-mental patients, I was amazed at how professionally they handled emergencies.” For Gigi, she even worked with Chinese pharmacists to produce several videos to understand the mental health of the elderly living alone. “It was mind-boggling. Unlike traditional pharmacists who only conduct pulse diagnoses, pharmacists in Healthy Hong Kong Limited also take care of the mental health of the elderlies by spending extra time to chat with them and provide psychological support when necessary. These are something that traditional pharmacists failed to take care of the elderlies”.
Grace Luk (left) and Michelle Chan (right) strongly recommended CUHK students
to join the Citi-HKCSS Community Intern Programme this year
With the programme coming to an end, all four awardees expressed their gratitude to CUHK for their support and urged all incoming students to join the programme next year. Michelle and Gigi advised participants to engage in those eye-opening training courses, while Yuen Tung encouraged freshmen not to be afraid of trying new things in the programme, “If there is anything you would like to do in those two months, propose it to your supervisor! The more you do, the more you will learn, and the more you can accomplish!”
The application for Citi-HKCSS Community Intern Programme 2022 is open for application from March 7 to April 14. Two online information session will be held on 15 March and 7 April via Zoom by the organizer. For more information, please visit https://cip.org.hk/. You can also visit https://cip.org.hk/application/ to submit the online application form before the deadline.
